Prep Football: Lena-Winslow captures 1A state title

That was due to to Tyler Oakley’s two scoop-and-score fumble recoveries that tallied 125 yards.

“Not in my wildest dreams would I ever think that would happen,” Oakley said. “Our bread and butter has been our offense, but the defense has stepped it up week in and week out. When we play 11-as-one on defense, it’s hard to beat us.”

Both phases of the game showed marked improvement for the Panthers in the second half, as Le-Win reached the end zone twice and held Downs Tri-Valley scoreless to capture the Class 1A state football championship, 28-21.

It was Lena-Winslow’s second state championship in program history, the other coming in 2010.

“This one was a little more difficult,” Panthers coach Ric Arand said. “We’ve beaten a couple of really good teams this year, but this one against Tri-Valley was by far the best team we’ve played all year.

“Incredible quickness at the line of scrimmage, and they had incredible running backs. We were opportunistic with turnovers and we used everything they gave us.”

The Panthers needed to create a momentum shift coming out of the half, especially after failing to move the ball offensively. Quarterback Ben Moest, who had a couple of his passes dropped early, stayed the course on passing plays and connected with tight end Luke Schubert on a 32-yard pass on second-and-eight from Le-Win’s 28.

“Luke ran a corner post,” Moest said. “They covered it pretty decent, but Luke made a play on the ball.

“Stuff like what happened earlier has happened all year. We’ve made mistakes all year and we’ve had to persevere and have a never-say-die attitude.”

After Schubert’s catch, Oakley and Brendan Eilders moved the ball more effectively on the ground and capped a 14-play, 74-yard drive on a Moest sneak to cut Tri-Valley’s lead to 21-20.

Le-Win took the lead for good following Tri-Valley’s third lost fumble, which was recovered by Anthony Martinez on the Vikings’ 42. Six plays later, Oakley ran in from 2 yards out and Moest’s two-point pass to Schubert gave the Panthers a 28-21 lead with 3:02 left in the third quarter.

Oakley finished with 83 rushing yards and three total touchdowns.

The Vikings’ struggles in the second half were in stark comparison to their first half. T-V marched down field most of the game, including its first possession, but Schubert forced a fumble on T-V quarterback Peyton Roop. Oakley recovered the ball and raced 60 yards for a 7-0 lead. T-V got on the board 12 plays later on a 70-yard drive that was capped by a Caleb Wilson 3-yard run.

Following the touchdown, the Panthers fumbled on their first offensive snap to give the ball right back to the Vikings. But three plays later, defensive end Gus Werhane stripped the ball from T-V running back Braden Herrman, and Oakley was there again to scoop it up and race 65 yards for a 14-7 lead with 2:51 left in the first quarter.

Werhane, who finished with two forced fumbles, wasn’t even sure how he punched the ball out.

“Those turnovers, I felt, were God-given,” Werhane said with a chuckle. “I didn’t really even make a play on the ball.

“I just kind of threw my guy and I got some help from Matt (Greene) to free up the ball.”

Luck wasn’t on the Panthers’ side in the second quarter after Wilson’s 36-yard TD run. A Matt Greene reception was fumbled and recovered by Jonah Long, and Roop ran in from 17 yards out to give the Vikings their only lead of the game, 21-14 with 2:52 left in the half.

“We watched a lot of film all week,” said Le-Win linebacker Hank Holm, who finished with 13 solo tackles and a forced fumble. “We just had to make our reads and fly to the ball and our D-line did a great job of freeing me. It’s easier to make tackles when you’ve got a line blocking for you.”

T-V threw an interception to Oakley in the final minute of the game to seal the win and the state title for the Panthers.

“I’ve never had a better feeling in my life,” Holm said. “It makes it even better to do it with guys like this. I love them to death.”